


Breath

by clovesfanfic



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Baby Yevgeny Milkovich, Boys Kissing, Cute Yevgeny Milkovich, Daddy Ian, Daddy Mickey, Daddy!Ian, Daddy!Mickey, Domestic Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Happy Family, M/M, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Mention of Death, My First Fanfic, Protective Ian Gallagher, Protective Mickey Milkovich, gallavich parenting, no one dies of course, not relationship angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-20 13:46:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16556894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clovesfanfic/pseuds/clovesfanfic
Summary: A day at home with his son ends up being more than Mickey bargained for…in a horrible way…and then a very beautiful way.AKA Yevgeny doesn't like to sit while eating and everything after.





	1. Breath

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is my first Fanfiction EVER. First thing I've written that isn't a school essay. After 18 months of reading Gallavich fanfic I decided to try writing one.  
> For some reason this is the story that came to me. 
> 
> I swear on my life this was supposed to be 1.5k and somehow ended up being over 8k. whoops.
> 
> I would love to hear comments/suggestions on my writing/story.
> 
> Also: I had a few words in italics throughout the story, in my Word doc, but that didn't transfer over...if someone could explain how to do that in the comments I would appreciate it. Thank you!

“Yev, sit down please,” Mickey asked his son for what felt like the hundredth time that meal. He was starting to think Ian might be right in that his stubbornness was rubbing off on their two and half year old. 

Today was Mickey’s day off, and like every day off Mickey chose to keep Yevgeny home from day care with him. He enjoyed his job as a bartender at a borderline Northside hipster Bar called Ports, but he was always glad to have some one-on-one time with his toddler. 

Mickey watched as Yevgeny finally sat down and started eating again. Normally, Yev eats all his meals at the kitchen table, strapped into his booster seat, but since Mickey was paying bills at the dining room table, he allowed Yevvy to eat his meal on the carpet in front of the TV, while watching his favorite show, Paw Patrol. 

Every time Rubble, Yev’s favorite character came on screen, Yevgeny would stand up and run closer to the television. 

“Wubble! Papa!” Yev’s tiny voice squeaked out around a mouthful of cut up hotdog as Rubble appeared on screen for the third time that episode. And as if on cue, Yev was up off the floor and pointing at the TV. 

“Yevgeny! Sit down before you choke on your food! I mean it!”

“Sowwy Papa! Yevvy sit now. Watch wif me Papa!” the little one smiled back and promptly ran back to his seated position behind his plate and patted the spot next to him before turning his attention back to the TV. Mickey was seriously contemplating leaving the bills for later and joining his boy on the floor. 

Sometimes Mickey got annoyed with Yev, like when he asked for pasta for lunch and then threw a tantrum when Mickey tried to serve it to him; not calming down until he was given cut up hotdogs, which he had declared he no longer liked just the day before. But then, Yevvy would do something adorable like give Mickey his big grin that reminded him too much of his other dad, or try to copy his papa’s speech and end up referring to himself in third person that Mickey’s frustration would completely vanish and his lips would turn up a little at the sides with pure happiness. 

Those little toddler mannerisms would make him remember how much his life has changed in the past two years and how somehow, beyond his wildest dreams, he seems to have everything he ever wanted. A legal job, an adorable toddler who he couldn’t dream of ever not being fully in his life again, and a sexy as hell red head who had recently become his husband and even officially adopted Yevgeny as his own after his mother had married up and left. 

Coming back from his thoughts, he realized Yevgeny was once again pacing around the living room chewing his food. Before he could get a word out to him, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He was going to ignore it for the time being to finish dealing with Yev, but the phone kept buzzing and he realized it was a call not a text. 

He pulled out his phone and looked at the lit-up screen. He hoped it was his favorite person calling to say hi on his lunch break. Unfortunately for Mickey, it was not Ian, but his work. He figured it was his manager asking him to cover a shift in the next day or two, as that was typically the only reason she called. Mickey decided to answer as his little family, though happy with their life, could always use the extra money for savings, especially since both Ian and him had recently taken a week off for their honeymoon. 

Right before sliding the screen to answer and step into the kitchen to talk in a quieter place, Mickey called out to Yevgeny a final time, “YEVGENY I SWEAR IF YOU DON’T SIT YOUR BUTT DOWN I’M TURNING OFF THE TV!”

Mickey knew it was an empty threat as he really had bills to pay and needed a little break from entertaining his favorite rugrat. So Mickey didn’t stick around to see to it that Yev sat down again to finish eating, and stepped into the kitchen to talk to his manager. 

 

___________________________

“Sure, Denise, no problem at all. Thanks for asking me first, you know we can always use the extra cash around here,” Mickey ended the call and ran a hand up his face and through his hair. He just agreed to two night shifts in a row this coming weekend. Not his favorite thing to do as he likes to go to bed at the same time as Ian at least every other night. He has been told he gets irritable quicker if he goes with Ian too long, but he doesn’t believe those people. He simply likes to cuddle with Ian before falling asleep. Not too much to ask for. 

Mickey startles when he hears a noise coming from the living room. Mickey breathes out a sigh, “Jesus Yev did you knock something over with all your hopping around? I told you to sit and finish your lunch didn’t I?”

Mickey strode past the kitchen threshold towards the living room expecting to see a knocked over lamp and sheepish Yevgeny hiding behind a couch or chair where he thinks his dads can never see him. 

The sight that he is met with is one of his worst imaginable nightmares. 

Yevgeny is laying on his side next to his plate with glazed over eyes, one hand clutching at his throat and the other reaching into the air for Mickey. He immediately knows his baby boy is choking. 

“YEV!” Mickey screams running to the toddler and bending down beside him. 

“Shit shit shit, Yev b-breathe baby, breathe,” Mickey soothes to him as he stands him up in front of him. Yev’s little Paw Patrol t-shirt back to Mickey’s chest. 

Mickey had never felt such sheer terror in his life before as he put his fists together at the front of Yev’s soft tummy. He tried with every fiber in his being to recall the Heimlich Maneuver and other choking information Ian had told him all about after his two day EMT specialty training session on infant and child safety. But that was over six months ago and without ever putting it to use, Mickey was all but useless. 

He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, beads of sweart forming on his forehead and his adrenaline sky rocketing as he used all his strength to drag his fists back against Yevgeny’s stomach trying to get him to cough up whatever was blocking his airway. He felt like he had been pumping Yev’s chest for a lifetime, he completely lost track of the passage of time. 

What he remembered as the Heimlich Maneuver wasn’t working and he was getting desperate. Yev’s tiny lips were parted as he was trying to gasp for air with no luck. Mickey started smacking Yev on the back and still nothing was coming up. “Yev please p-p-lease…no…no…YEV” Mickey choked out trying to hold himself together as his palm made repeated contact with Yev’s back.

Mickey realized he wouldn’t be able to save his son on his own, and finally held Yev clutched to him in his left arm while grabbing his phone and dialing 911.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“Please! My son! H’s choking! Please send help! 5621 Sloane Ave!”

“Help is on the way sir. How old is your son?”

“He’s 2! YEV PLEASE! HURRY! His lips are turning blue! Oh my god please hurry fuck fuck…Yev stay with me baby, Papa is here!” Tears were now actively running down Mickeys face as he watched his baby struggle to breath. He felt so utterly helpless, he wouldn’t wish this feeling on his worst enemy. 

“The ambulance is on its way sir, they are two minutes out. Stay calm sir. How long has he been choking?”

“I, I, I d-don’t know. I just came in and OH MY GOD YEVGENY. PLEASE! HIS WHOLE FACE IS TURNING BLUE OH MY GOD PLEASE HURRY!” Mickey put the phone down and tried sticking his fingers down his son’s throat trying to feel for anything. The food must have been too far down in his airway so Mickey went back to switching between the Heimlich Maneuver and hitting him on the back. Doing anything he could think of to save his little boy. He didn’t know how much time he had left.

“Sir, the ambulance should be pulling up in 30 seconds. Do you hear the sirens?” Mickey didn’t understand how the lady could be so calm when it felt like his entire world and everything he loved was falling from his grasp. 

He was able to strain his ears, over the audible pounding of his heartbeat and heard the glorious sounds of the ambulance sirens getting louder and louder. They will save him, they are coming, it’s going to be okay. Mickey kept repeating those mantras to himself as he scooped up Yevgeny and ran out the front door to meet the ambulance as fast as possible.

______________  
A few minutes away….

The wind coming in from the open garage door made Brooks’ stare all the more intense. Ian slowly roam his eyes over his coworker’s face looking for any sign of a tell. “Fine. I fold,” Ian gave in, laying his cards on the table, ignoring the disappointed eyes from all around the table. 

It was a slow day at Ian’s station, only getting one call right after he got into work to help an old lady up off her living room floor after getting her life alert message. 

The rest of the morning, he and his partner Sue had spent playing poker with the rest of the team, at the plastic circular table set up in the garage that housed the station’s ambulances. “C’mon Ian we were counting on ya man,” Finston whined after Ian folded his card. “Ya gotta stay strong, read his eyes Gallagher, he was definitely bluffing this time” Evans chimed in as well. 

“Ha. Easy for you all to say when it isn’t your Doritos on the line” Ian knew the teasing was all in good fun. Brooks was notorious for his stealth like poker face so it always ended with the rest of the gang cheering on whoever was left in the final two, one always being Brooks. 

“Damn, I sure hope I can fit these in my locker” Brooks chided while scooping up his new collection of fun size candy and bags of chips. “I just can’t eat these as fast as I win them” he laughed, getting glares from everyone else around the table. 

“Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. You should really consider going on the rode with that act.” Ian egged him on. 

“Nah, no way. Where would I get free food from if I left here” he chuckled. 

As Ian scooped up the cards off of the table to shuffle and re-deal, he couldn’t help but smile at how much he really loved his coworkers and his job. Yeah, they gave each other shit every day, but it was all in good fun. Getting his bipolar diagnosis two years ago felt like he was never going to live the life he dreamed of growing up. It wasn’t much of a dream since he was a southside kid, but it certainly didn’t involve a diagnosis that would affect his entire life. 

He will be forever grateful for the encouragement of his husband Mickey for sticking by his side while he struggled to stick with a medicine regimen. It took months of sticking with the meds to finally feel the same sense of freedom and normalcy that he felt pre-diagnosis, but seeing the light in Mickey’s eyes every time Ian got out of bed in the morning was enough to make the struggles worth it. 

With his man and his adorable baby boy Yev, the only thing lacking from his life was a true purpose. Since the army was out of the question, but he still wanted a way to help people, he ended up falling into the EMT program by way of an intriguing flyer posted on the door of Patsy’s Pies during one of his old shifts. He was lucky enough that with his doctor’s recommendation and dedication during his first few shifts, he was able to mostly work the day shifts to help keep his schedule regular. 

Two years later, he and Mickey are recently married and happier than anyone expected two Southside gay kids could be, while raising their son. 

“ANY DAY NOW GALLAGHER!” Ian starts when he hears Evans chastise him for taking too long to shuffle. “Dreaming about your boy toy huh?” He added on, shaking his curly blonde head, causing the whole table to break out in a fit of laughter. Ian had been known to zone out a time or two with a dreamy smile on his face. His coworkers started putting two and two together when Ian would come out of his day dream and immediately start texting someone. His partner Sue was the only one that knew for sure he was checking in with his husband about his day, since he tended to tell her everything. He figured he would call and check in on his favorite boys after this next round of poker. 

“Alright, alright, here we go” Ian chuckled as he started dealing out the cards. He was thankful for slow days like these, although they all knew that a slow morning often led to some big call in the afternoon that had them all in work mode instantly with adrenaline pumping through their veins. 

Just like clockwork, the second Ian dealt the last card of the first round to start the game, all their radios started making noise. Everyone dropped their cards to listen to the radio and be ready to get going. 

2 year old male choking. Ambulance requested to 5621 Sloane Ave. Choking time unknown. All units be advised. 

Ian was frozen. All he could hear was the 2 year old male choking and 5621 Sloane Ave. His son. His address. 

His coworkers hadn’t noticed Ian’s shock in their hurry to get to the rig. Brooks’ voice, “Finston and I got this, LETS GO FIN” broke Ian out of his physical and mental paralysis. 

“T-t-that’s my house. NO. FUCK.” Ian sputtered getting progressively louder. He knocked over his chair getting to his feet faster than he ever has before. “I’m coming!”

His coworker all got a ghostly look in their eyes as realization that this was Ian’s son, who they all know and love, was the one choking. It was always especially tough when they got a call about one of their own’s family. 

“Ian, you know you’re too close to this, I’ll drive you behind their truck but you can’t be on the team for this, you know the rules, ”Sue tried to calmly explain to Ian, to no avail. 

“FUCK THAT. THAT’S MY SON. I’M GOING. LET’S GO NOW!” Ian brushed past the team towards the ambulance, his heart beating in his chest feeling ready to explode. 

Sue knew there wasn’t time to talk him down as they had to go now, “Fine but I’m driving, get in the passenger seat.”

“We’re all coming,” Evans replied, everyone now hustling into the two ambulances and pulling out of the garage with the sirens blaring. 

“Can you go any faster Sue! God damn it!” Ian tugged at his hair while dialing Mickey for the third time since getting on the road. The firehouse was only 3 minutes from their house, but it felt like an eternity to get there this time. He could only imagine how terrified Mickey was right now and wished he was there to help him. 

Sue cranked the siren up to full volume to try to appease Ian, even though she knew nothing she did would calm the scared father. “We’ll be there in 30 seconds Ian, we’re going to save your baby, okay? It’s going to be okay Ian. I’m going to take the lead when we get there, you shouldn’t have to do this with your own son.” Sue tried to keep talking to make the time feel like it was going faster for Ian. 

Ian could barely decipher her words over his pounding heart but he knew he wasn’t letting anyone else touch his son before him. 

Finally, the rig came to a screeching halt in front of Ian and Mickey’s house, with the red head practically diving out of the truck before it came to a full stop. All Ian could focus on was his Mickey running out of the house with a limp Yevgeny in his arms. Even from 30 feet away Ian could see the blue tint throughout his entire tiny body. Things were worse than he thought. “MICK! YEV” he called as he finally approached them, grabbing the small boy from Mickey’s arms. 

“I got you Yev, Daddy’s here” Ian breathed as he got down on his knees with Yev’s back against his chest. He has seen enough of these children choking cases to know that he had seconds before Yev passed out, and then permanent brain damage was a real possibility. 

He could see Mickey dropping to his knees next to him, whether it was intentional to get closer to Yev or his knees just finally gave out due to sheer terror, he’ll never know. He could faintly hear Sue calling out to him to give her the child but all Ian could focus on was getting Yevgeny to breathe again. 

“C’mon Yevvy…breathe please yev…you’re ok…breathe” Ian panted out as he used his fists to expertly deliver the Heimlich Maneuver. He felt the sharp grass edges digging into his knees, through his thin work pants, but he paid no mind. He could hear Mick’s wet inhales to his side. He knew Mick was on the verge of sobbing. He had never had such a hard time not dropping everything and going to comfort his husband. He channeled that frustration into helping Yevgeny. 

Ian gave him two strong pats on the back and immediately went back to fisting his stomach, “Fuck, Yev please baby please!” Now on the verge of tears himself.

As if Yev could hear how desperate his fathers were becoming, Ian gave a particular hard thrust to his stomach and suddenly saw a dark chunk fly from Yevgeny’s lips, as his little mouth successfully gasped for the breath that he so desperately needed. 

“Oh my god” Ian and Mickey breathed out at the same time turning Yevgeny around to face them, with Ian continually rubbing his back. After taking in a few deep breathes, Yev started sobbing hysterically from the intensity of everything that had just happened. His fathers had never heard a more beautiful sound. 

Yev. Yev. Yev. Yev. Mickey could faintly hear himself repeating his boy’s name over and over but his main focus was on scooping Yev and Ian into the tightest hug he could manage. “He’s okay, Mick, it’s all okay now,” he heard Ian tell him over the sound of Yev’s cries, as he rubbed his back reassuringly. 

Mickey still couldn’t form full sentences, the emotions he had kept at bay for the sake of saving his son were now surfacing. Ian felt Mickey’s sobs rack his body as he leaned his head into the crook of Ian’s neck. One wet cheek plastered to Ian’s neck and the other in the soft hair of Yevgeny’s head as he held his family close, “Fuckin’ scared the shit out of me you little asshole,” he finally mumbled out into Ian’s chest. 

The family was broken out of their hugs of relief by Sue’s voice. “Ian, Mickey, we really need to check him, we need to take him to make sure everything is working. You know this Ian. We don’t know how long he went without oxygen, he needs his vitals checked,” she explained to the men as she reached to pick up the small boy and place him on the stretcher Brooks and Finston had set up right after their rig arrived. 

A new set of panic rose in Mickeys chest as he saw hands reaching for his son. The only thing going through his mind was that his son was potentially being taken away from him, after having just gotten him back. “No no n-n-no please don’t take him,” Mickey sputtered out reaching for Yev’s arm to take him back from Sue. 

“Mick, Mick she’s right” Ian soothed as they all stood up. He clasped Mickey’s hands in his bigger ones and brought them up to his chest which pulled Mickey even closer to him. Ian knew his presence always had a calming effect on Mickey and he was hoping it would take effect soon. 

“B-but he’s breathing…he’s okay.”

“I know but they still have to check him, make sure his airway is fully clear and his heart rate is normal. We don’t know how long he was without air. But he’s going to be okay baby, I’ll be in the truck with him.”

“Me too. I’m coming in the truck, I can’t be away from him, Ian, please,” Mickey pleaded with Ian. Ian had never seen Mickey’s eyes filled with such desperation.

“Of course, Mick, c’mon,” Ian pulled Mickey along as they followed the stretcher their tiny boy was now strapped to into the back of the rig. 

Even though it was no longer an emergency the team still blasted the sirens and got to the hospital as fast as possible since it was one of their own on the stretcher. 

The commotion of the ambulance scared the tiny boy causing a resurgence of his tears that had been calmed by being hugged my his dads. Mickey was by his side and taking his hand in an instant. “Papa’s here don’t worry baby boy, papa and daddy are here, you’re okay, you’re safe.” 

“Mick I know it’s hard but you can’t be touching him, they have to get an accurate read on his vitals” Ian explained to his worried husband. Mickey looked immediately crushed as if he couldn’t do a single thing right when it came to his baby boy. 

“Fuck fuck” Mickey turned into Ian’s chest as he let go of his toddler’s hand to let the EMTs tend to him. “What if it was too long..what if there’s something wrong in his brain…I was only gone a minute I swear Ian..I’m sorry…I-I I’m so so sorry Ian” Mickey whimpered into his husband’s warm chest. 

“Hey, hey, hey baby no. None of that baby. He’s going to be fine. He is fine. They just are checking for minor things like if they need to give him extra oxygen or something to help get his circulation back to normal levels. But he’s fine, nothing lasting I promise.” Ian assured Mickey even though he knew on the inside EMTs couldn’t make that kind of a promise without him being examined fully by a doctor after such a long time without air. Mickey clutched the sides of Ian’s uniform as he tried to match his breathing to the beating of Ian’s heart against his. 

 

_________________________________

After what felt like an eternity, the rig finally pulled up to the emergency doors of the hospital as everyone scrambled to get off so the stretcher could be wheeled out. After Yevgeny’s basic vitals were cleared by the EMTs to the doctors in the pit, Mickey and Ian were each able to grab one of his little hands on either side of the stretcher as he was wheeled to a private room. 

Yev was transferred from the stretcher to the hospital bed as a doctor walked into the room. “I’m doctor Reed, and I’ll be checking Yevgeny for any lasting effects from his oxygen deprivation,” She told the dads as she passed them to get to Yev, her white coat a stark contrast from her short dark hair. “Hi Yevgeny, my name is Dr. Reed, how are you feeling? I heard you had a big boo boo today?”

“My tummy hurts” Yevvy whimpered out as he rolled over to go into his dad’s arms, who were huddled together on the right side of the bed near Yev’s head. 

“Shhh baby boy, I know it hurts but the doctor is going to make you feel better, but you have to stay in bed” Ian soothed the little boy back down on the bed, only to be met with tiny sobs and a shaking little boy. 

Mickey does not like to see his boy in pain. Ever. But it especially hurts him when it’s Yevgeny who is too young to understand why he’s in pain. “Can we get him some fuckin’ pain killers Jesus Christ! This is supposed to be a goddam hospital right?” The frustration of Mickey’s words were directed in the general direction of Dr. Reed, but at no one in particular at the same time. 

“We have to run the blood tests first to get an accurate report, but we’ll get him hooked up on something to ease the pain just after we draw the blood.” She tried to reassure the parents with her best bedside manner. She was used to parents reacting like that when seeing their really little ones in pain. Although the cussing was more rare. “Okay Yevvy, I know your tummy hurts, but can I tell you why?” she asked the little boy.

“Why…tummy hurt” Yev bit out through his tears. Ian and Mickey’s hearts collectively broke at the pathetic sight. 

“Because your daddies saved you. They had to use their hands to press on your tummy to help get the food out of your throat so you could breathe again. And you know what? That makes your daddies superheroes!”

“They are?”

“Of course! They are so strong and saved you!

“Wow” Yev’s tears came to a stop and he looked up at Ian and Mickey with wide eyes. Mickey and Ian smiled back at their son, thankful that the doctor knew how to soothe an upset child. 

“Okay Yev, I need to make sure you are strong and healthy because you had a boo boo today. The first thing we’re going to do is take a little blood from inside your arm and make sure it’s nice and healthy” the doctor spoke sweetly to Yev as a distraction while the nurse set up the needle and sanitation items. 

Ian and Mickey knew this was not going to go well. 

After having the inside of his elbow cleaned, the nurse picked up the needle, “I want you to squeeze your Papa’s hand as hard as you can on the count of 3.” 

Yevgeny looked confused but shook his head yes. He had still yet to lay eyes on the needle. 

“One…two—"  
“AHHHH NOOOO DADDDDY NOOO” Yevgeny screamed as he laid eyes on the needle rapidly approaching his arm.  
Luckily, the doctor was holding his arm and the nurse was able to stick him with the needle regardless of his cries to his fathers. “It’s okay Yev it’s almost done” “You are so brave big boy.” His fathers murmured words of encouragement to him and within 20 seconds the blood draw was done. 

“Great job Yevgeny, I’m just going to administer pain meds through the IV since it’s already in and then we’ll get his blood sample to the lab, results should be back in 45 minutes.”

As soon as the needle was out the nurse slapped a Band-Aid on the dot of blood on the crook of his elbow and held up the tube of blood for him to see. The little kids tended to get a kick out of it and it took their mind off any lingering pain. Not Yevgeny though, his eyes were caught on the brightly colored Band-Aid fixed to his arm. 

“Paw Patwol! Daddy! Papa! Look at rubble!” Yevgeny screeched to his fathers while pointing to his band aid. Someone in the hospital clearly knows what they are doing when it comes to calming kids. The fathers sighed and then smiled. Happy their little boy’s mind was taken off the pain through something as simple as a Band-Aid with his favorite character on it. 

“Yeah Yev! It is Rubble! Rubble thinks you are the bravest boy ever!” Ian spoke as Mickey gave Yev a smacker on the cheek. He was so ecstatic to see his boy smiling again. 

However, the happiness was short lived as the Paw Patrol talk reminded Yev of the events of the day, “Uh Oh.” 

“What’s Uh Oh Yev?” Ian asked his boy. 

“Yevvy bad boy” Yev whimpered on the verge of tears again. 

“What do you mean sweet boy? Yevvy is always a good boy,” Ian replied back. He and Mickey shared a confused look then looked back to their son. 

“Papa say SIT DOWN YEVVY but I standed and got tummy hurted!” Yev was fighting his tears at this point. 

A lightbulb went off in Mickey’s head. “Shit Ian, he thinks it’s his fault and that we’re mad at him for choking because I told him to sit down when he was eating lunch and he didn’t.”

Without thinking, both men crawled up onto either side of Yevgeny, boxing him in with their cuddles. “No Yevvy, you are such a good boy. Your daddies love you so much, you didn’t do anything bad I promise” Mickey cooed at his little one, as Ian rubbed his stomach gently.

“No time out?” Yev questioned, timeout was the two year old’s worse nightmare. Thankfully his tears seemed to have gone back inside again. 

“No baby, no timeout. You are not in trouble. Your daddies are so happy you are okay. That’s all. When we get home do you want to cuddle in our bed and watch Paw Patrol?” Ian asked his baby boy, while continuing to stroke his fingers down his Paw Patrol t-shirt covered belly. 

“With Daddy and Papa?” Yev piped up.

“Yup all night, sweet boy. And you can even have a cookie in bed,” Mickey added. 

Yev started squirming and shaking his head yes. His fathers certainly knew what their son liked.

They spent the next 45 minutes waiting for the blood test results by cuddling Yev and whispering sweet words to him to try and get him to nap. They knew their toddler must be exhausted from the commotion and pain of the day. 

As the doctor came back in with their results, both men signaled to her to not be too loud by putting their index finger up to their mouths. They had been listening to the sweet sounds of Yev’s soft breath and watching his tummy move up and down for the last 15 minutes. They had a hard time tearing their eyes and ears away from the sight to listen to the doctor. 

Dr. Reed got right into it, “You boys are very lucky. His tests came back completely normal.” The boy’s released a sign of relief at the same time and reached to grab eachother’s hands over Yev’s body. Ian squeezed, and Mickey squeezed back harder. Their baby was going to be okay. “The nurse will be in with your discharge papers soon and then you are free to take your little one home. I don’t see any follow up needed, but don’t hesitate to call if you notice any abnormal behavior. Just give him over the counter children’s Tylenol if he has pain in his stomach. Have a great night gentlemen.” They watched her leaved and smiled down at their baby boy, Mickey running his fingers through dark hair that matched his own.

“Fuck,” Mickey sighed out again. His nightmare was actually over. He leaned over and kissed Yevgeny on the forehead and then stretched over his tiny body to give a tender kiss to Ian. As their lips softly touched, Mickey felt the stress of his day dissipate. Ian has always been his anchor when it felt like his mind was running in 10 different directions. Ian’s touch always brought him back to the ground and calmed him; today was no different. With all the action going on to make sure Yevgeny was okay, Mickey hadn’t realized how badly he was craving Ian’s caring touch. 

Ian leaned into his husband cupping the side of his face with his strong hands and stroking his jaw with his thumbs. The stubble under his fingers was a welcome calming sensation to him after the craziness of the afternoon. “Everything’s okay Mick, Yev’s okay, he’s healthy. I love you so much Mick.” Ian whispered as he pulled his lips slightly away from his husband’s. 

“I love you too Ian. I love our little family.” Mickey finally felt a sense of calm he hadn’t felt in hours as he pulled away from Ian with a soft smile on his lips. 

“Lets go home babe.” Ian smiled back. 

“Yevvy, sweet boy time to wake up. We’re going home.” Mickey gently stroked his son’s cheek to wake him up since picking him up tended to wake him up anyways.

A groggy faced Yev looked from his Papa to his Daddy, “All better?”

“Yes, Yevvy you are all better and now we get to go home,” Mickey continued. 

“Okay,” Yev yawned out through his tiny pink parted lips before flopping his head back onto the pillow and closing his eyes slowly, eye lashes fluttering against his fair cheek. “Sleepy daddy.”

“I know baby, Daddy will carry you, just go back to sleep Yev” Ian soothed to the little boy as he and Mickey got off the bed and gathered up their few things. Ian reached back down to scoop up Yevgeny holding him newborn baby style. Yevgeny always fought being held this way, telling his dads he was, a big boy now, so Ian knew he must be completely wiped out right now as he let his dad carry him out of the room. 

After turning in their discharge papers, Ian, Mickey and a sleepy Yevgeny in Ian’s arms, who had now been switched to Ian’s left hip with his head on his shoulder, headed towards the front doors. Mickey grabbed Ian’s hand before they reached the doors, not wanting to be too far from his favorite boys. He hadn’t been out for more than two and a half years and still had some apprehension when it came to public displays of affections. But in this moment, Mickey couldn’t care less who saw him holding hands with another man. He even leaned in and pressed his lips to his husband’s right shoulder as they made their way through the doors. He needed that comfort and support right now. 

While waiting for the test results, Ian had let Sue know that everything was likely okay and it was okay for her and the crew to get back to the station. However, that did leave them without a ride as they hadn’t had a chance to let either of their families know what was going on. Instead of trying to wait for an Uber with a booster seat, the men decided to hop on the L at the station next to the hospital for the short trip home. They had never been more thankful for living 10 minutes from the hospital. 

Yevgeny slept against Ian’s chest the entire way home with Mickey nonstop rubbing his back, leaning in for a kiss to his hair every 30 seconds. They were cuddled as close together as possible. The row they were in had two adult seats and yet the three of them were practically all on one seat. They didn’t talk at all on the ride home. They didn’t need to. They just needed the other there next to them to know they were going to be okay. 

Yevgeny finally seemed to wake up a bit with more energy as they walked home. Mickey was the one carrying him from their stop to their house to give Ian’s arms a break. He would never say it out loud, but it made him feel just a little bit better to have Yev in his arms, knowing he was completely safe. 

“Paw Patwol now?” Yevvy asked as soon as they stepped through the door. His parents were whole heartedly grateful that the pain meds seemed to be working well and his mood was picking up. 

Mickey chuckled as he shifted Yev to the other hip and gave him a big smacker on one cheek while Ian swooped around them and kissed his other one. That happened a lot lately. Mickey and Ian seemingly reading each other’s minds when it came to all things Yevgeny and parenting. Whenever him and Ian would do something at the same time, whether it be scold Yev or give him a kiss on the check, a little voice in the back of Mickey’s mind would scream soulmates, but on the outside, he always just chalked it up to familiarity and being a good team. “Yes bub, lets get you into your PJs and then we can all cuddle in bed” Mickey responded after he was broken from his thoughts by Yevgeny’s giggles. Ian was now blowing raspberries on Yev’s cheeks which was a known giggle getter tactic in their house. 

Mickey took Yev upstairs to change into his beloved Paw Patrol pajamas while Ian grabbed cookies and milk from the kitchen. 

Ian walked into the master bedroom to find his two favorite boys cuddled up, getting the TV set up. “C’mon daddy!” Yev patted the spot next to him for Ian to join so he would be in his favorite spot. Between his two daddies. Ian placed the treats on his night stand and then did his famous run and jump cannonball onto the bed, which always cracked his boys up. “CANBALLLL” Yev screamed and clapped his little hands together as he always did, still not quite able to figure how to say it correctly. 

“Who’s ready for some cookies and milk?” Ian asked as he got under the covers with his boys and reached over to the night stand. 

“ME!” Yev yelled, not surprising his fathers at all. The kid had a sweet tooth to rival his papa’s.

“Definitely fuckin’ me” Mickey also replied making grabby hands towards Ian as Ian gave Yevvy his first and then passed one to Mickey. 

“Thanks babe, let’s get this show on the road…or on the TV I should say.”

Ian chuckled at his husband’s lame attempt at humor. Even Yevgeny laughed, but Ian was sure he didn’t know what he was laughing at. 

Yevgeny hit play, yes their two year old knows his way around the remote, and snuggled up against the pillow, squished between his papas, quickly polishing off the first of what would turn into five cookies that night. The older boys had difficulty telling their son no. Mickey blames Ian for this, always telling him Yev had mastered Ian’s infamous puppy dog eyes by 18 months old. 

Mickey spent ten straight minutes with his eyes glued to Yevgeny, making sure every bite went down smoothly. Back in the calm of the house, the memories from earlier were coming back and he just couldn’t shake the spooked feeling in his stomach. Ian could his insecurities rising out of the corner of his eye and reached over Yev’s head to pull the top of Mickey’s head to his, planting a soft lingering kiss in his soft dark hair. Running his fingers through it and scratching his scalp to try to calm his husband. “I love you Mickey, so much. You are an amazing dad.” He knew his husband well enough to know he was beating himself up on the inside for having been the one watching Yevvy during the choking incident. Mickey turned on his side, inhaling Yev’s scent and reaching over his little body to give Ian’s thigh a squeeze in silent thanks. 

15 minutes into the first episode, Yevgeny was predictably on his way to a deep sleep in between his dads. Ian ran his fingers through Yev’s hair the same way he had just done to the older boy. Yev was definitely Mickey’s son in that a head rub always helped lull the little boy to sleep. 

By the end of the first episode, Yevgeny was completely out and had managed to scooch himself down with his head just hitting the bottom of the pillow. This meant Ian and Mickey could also put their heads on the top of the pillow facing each other, so all three were sharing one pillow. They reached their hands across Yev’s soft pajama clad tummy, under the covers and laced their fingers together, resting them on their little boy’s stomach. Neither would say it out loud, but I was certainly reassuring to them to feel the up and down of Yev’s breathing. 

Mickey stared into Ian’s green eyes, getting lost in them and his own thought. Before he knew it, silent tears were slowly rolling down his cheeks. 

“What’s wrong my sweet baby?” Ian whispered, a crease forming between his beautiful eyes as he leaned closer to Mickey, touching their foreheads and noses together. 

“I just...I…What if we lost him Ian…wh—”

“Shhh Mick, don’t go there. He’s fine. He’s so perfectly okay. Everything’s okay.” Ian interrupted Mickey’s resurgence of panic with his calming voice. Ian tried touching his lips to Mickey but was stopped with Mickey’s rushed words.

“I was so scared Ian… I don’t know what I would do if we…if we lost him. If he didn’t get a chance to grow up? And it was all my fault. I shouldn’t have left him alone. Fuck. How could I do this? How can I say I love him when I let him get hurt? What kind of father am I if I can’t protect him in his own house? I-I-I’m just like... him... then.”

“HEY” Ian whispered shouted as to not wake the tot between them. “Don’t you ever say that again. You hear me? You are NOTHING like that monster. You do everything to protect him…and me. You do everything for this family. You are the single most incredible and selfless man I have ever met. I wonder every day how I got so lucky that you chose me. You are an amazing and loving father despite everything that has happened to you. You make me so proud every day. So don’t you dare question yourself over something that could have happened to anyone. He’s a kid, kids get hurt and then they get better. He’s going to get hurt more in his life. But you and me? We’ll always be there to pick up the pieces together. So don’t you ever say those things about the love of my life again. I’ll have to kick his ass. Okay?” Ian stared with so much intensity into Mickey’s glossy blue eyes willing his lover to understand how utterly true his words were. 

“Okay.” Mickey conceded. “I love you so much Ian, thank you for saving our baby,” Mickey sniffled trying to wipe his tears with his hand not clutched in Ian’s. 

Ian promptly took over, using his own free hand to wipe away the dark-haired boy’s tears. Ian smiled at Mickey, “You don’t have to thank me for anything. Let’s try to get to some sleep now, yeah? You’ll feel better in the morning, I know it my love.” Ian scooched impossibly closer to Yev and Mickey, finally releasing Mickey’s hand to wrap his arm tightly across Mickey’s waist, with a softly snoring Yevvy in between them.

Mickey nodded his head in agreement, taking one last look at his two boys before closing his eyes and trying to fall into a slumber. As much as he tried to sleep, Mickey couldn’t turn off his brain. All the what ifs running through his head wouldn’t allow him to sleep. One particular thought, brought on by the fear of losing his baby boy, was standing out above the rest. 

He knew this wasn’t the time to bring it up. He opened his eyes and saw his beautiful red head drifting off to sleep, lips slightly parted, expelling the softest of breaths. It was a phenomenal sight he would be severing but he couldn’t help himself. 

“Ian, you awake?” Mickey whispered. 

“Mmhmm” Ian grunted out softly, alerting Mickey that he was indeed still awake, at least a little. With Ian only half way awake, Mickey took the time to share the thoughts that kept swirling in his brain that night. Thoughts he was hesitant to hear Ian’s response on. He figured Ian not being fully awake would give him a buffer if his husband didn’t like where he was going. He could make up some shit like it was the TV he was hearing and lull him back to sleep. 

Mickey dived right into it in a quiet yet firm whisper. “I just can’t fall asleep Ian, it’s like my mind won’t turn off and I keep thinking about all the stuff we would miss if Yev wasn’t okay…and then I, I, I don’t I just started thinking of all the stuff I did miss for almost a year of his life and how much I wish I could go back because I can’t understand how I didn’t want him then, ya know? And…and well—” Mickey could see Ian’s eyelids fluttering from the light filtered in through the hall and he could tell he was really trying to keep them open and listen to Mickey, but sleep was pulling him in. “Never mind baby, it’s not important just go back to sleep,” Mickey resigned. 

“No, no I’m awake tell me what you’re thinking,” Ian encouraged, words slightly slurred with sleepiness. Even after years together, an open Mickey was hard to come by and Ian wanted to hear everything his beautiful mind was thinking, even if he felt like he hadn’t slept in five days. He reopened his eyes to show Mickey he was listening. 

“Are you sure, we can talk about it another time?”

“Tell me, I want to know.”

“Well…like…fuck, this whole night just has got me thinking. Have you ever…ya know…like thought about having another one sometime? With m-me?’ Mickey stuttered out, biting his lip in apprehension of Ian’s response. Part of him hoped Ian had fallen back asleep and didn’t even hear his ramblings. No such luck. 

“What?” A now fully alert Ian popped his head up and peered down at his husband. “Like another baby? You want that?”

“I mean I have thought about it a few times, but tonight was…fuck. I don’t know babe. I just can’t stop thinking about how much I love the little man and wanting to do it right from the very beginning. With someone I love, ya know?”

“Who’s this someone you love huh? You steppin’ out on me Milkovich?” Ian teased, laying his head back down on the pillow but never letting his gaze waver from Mickey’s. 

“Shut the fuck up man, I’m trying to be serious here,” Mickey quirked a smile, rolled his eyes and let out a breath of relief that Ian didn’t seem to be completely put off by his midnight confession. 

“I know babe. I just love to see you smile. Mick. Look at me.” Mickey fixed his blue eyes back on the green ones sharing the pillow with him. “I love you and Yev more than anything in this world. I think our family is perfect right now. But I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought of having one we raised together from the very start. One that we chose to have. I just always figured it would be further down the line with healing from everything that happened with how we got Yevvy.” Ian removed his arm from Mickey’s waist and cupped his husband’s jaw, brushing his thumb against the corner of his smile. “But the truth is, we do have steady jobs, and it would be really amazing to have one so close in age with Yev, that they could grow up being best friends, you know? So I mean—”

“Wait, what are you sayin’ man? Get to the goddamn point already freckles,” Mickey cut off Ian with his whisper yell. The edges of his mouth already turning up into an even bigger smile as he sensed where this was going. 

Ian giggled, rubbing his thumb along Mickey’s jaw and digging his fingers into the dark hair at the base of his neck. “So impatient I swear! What I’m saying is—” Ian paused for dramatic effect and to egg Mickey on like he so loved to do. “There is nothing more in this world I would love to do, than have a baby with you Mickey Milkovich.”

The beautiful, melodious sound of Mickey’s heart filled laughter filled Ian’s ears the second he finished his words, “Shit. So we’re really going to do this?” Mickey questioned, a bit in disbelief that he was going to get even more than he ever dreamed of wanting out of his life.

“We’re really doing this, my love”

“Soon?”

“As soon as we can.”

Silence then fell over the room, with blue eyes locked onto green, drinking each other in. In awe of their partner. 

Minutes later, “I love you Ian Gallagher,” Mickey breathed out, warm breath tickling Ian’s lips. 

“I love you too Mick,” Ian got out just before softly touching his lips to his partner’s in a tender goodnight kiss.

“Love you Yevvy” the boys whispered out at the same time, giggling to each other at another one of their seemingly telepathic parenting moves. 

The two dads closed any remaining space between their bodies and Yevgeny’s as well, touching their noses together before finally closing their eyes, knowing they would be able to happily drift off to sleep now. 

As Mickey started drifting into sleep, his recurring unwanted thoughts from earlier in the night had turned into thoughts of complete bliss. However this new baby entered their lives, Mickey, Ian and Yev would be together every step of the way. How a seemingly horrible day turned into happiness and getting more than he ever bargained for out of life, Mickey will never quite understand, but will eternally be grateful for. 

The last sound he hears before falling into his slumber is the soft breath of his two favorite boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... That was my first fanfic y'all!
> 
> Please leave me feedback!
> 
> And feel free to suggest other one shot prompts.


	2. Perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The following morning…

After the harrowing events of the day before, Mickey and Ian both stayed home with Yevgeny. They had woken up in the exact same position they had fallen asleep in, wrapped up in each other. They were currently on the living room floor playing blocks with their toddler, after finishing breakfast. Yev was securely strapped in his booster seat at the table for the meal. 

Yev seemed to be in far less pain today, which his dads were grateful for. “BANG!” Yevvy yelled as he knocked down the tower of plastic, multi color blocks Mickey had been building. 

“Hey! That was my tower dude, not cool,” Mickey told his son in a teasing manner. Whatever Yev wanted today, he was going to get. 

“No! MY tower! Silly Papa!” Yev launched himself into Mickey’s lap, throwing his little arms around Mickey’s neck!

An unprepared Mickey grunted at the sudden loss of air but quickly recovered. “Oh you’re right, it’s your tower Yevvy! I built it for my favorite boy!”

“Hey!” It was Ian’s turn now having a go at that phrase! “What about me?”

“Eh, you’re alright I guess, nowhere near as cute as this guy though,” Mickey teased, tickling Yev’s sides. 

The fathers’ favorite sound soon filled the living room; Yevgeny’s laughter. “Papa airpwane! Daddy do bideo!” Yev got out through his laughter that was now turning to hiccups. Airplane was Yevgeny’s new favorite activity which involved one of his dads laying on their back and lifting Yev up and flying him around above their head. Yev would nonstop giggle the entire time. Part two involved his other dad filming the whole thing on his phone so Yev could watch it over and over for 15 straight minutes. The dads had yet to figure out why he was so obsessed with this, but they were happy to make their little boy happy. 

“Okay, Daddy get the camera out quick!” Mickey told Ian. “And up you go little man,” Mickey continued securing his hands around Yev’s sides. “3, 2, 1 LIFT OFF!” Mickey called out as he lifted Yev above his head, shaking him slightly to get the full take off effect.

Ian watched as his husband flew their son around over his head in all different directions and listened to a happily squealing Yevgeny. “Oh my God, you are so high up Yevgeny! I’ve never seen such a fast airplane before, wow!” Yevgeny always got a kick out of the videographer leaving commentary on the video to give the play back an extra something. 

“Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking, we will be landing the living room in 10 seconds. Prepare for landing,” Mickey spoke in his deepest official captain voice. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” Mickey brought a giggling Yev down onto his tummy as he counted.

“Bideo! Bideo!” An ecstatic Yev yelled, clambering off Mickey the second Mickey placed him down on his stomach. He promptly sat in Ian’s lap this time, waiting for his dad to show him the video. 

“Here ya go bud,” Ian placed the iPhone in his Yev’s hands to watch it with him, and saw Mickey scooching over to be next to them, out of the corner of his eyes. As predicted Yevgeny was mesmerized by the video and eventually took it to is his favorite bean bag next to the couch to keep watching, leaving the older men alone.

“So…”

“So…”

“Did you mean what you said last night? ‘Cause if you were just agreeing with me to go back to sleep or make me happy, it’s okay, really, we don’t have to do it ya know? It was just an idea.”

“Mick, look at that,” Ian replied, pointing to their son across the room, laughing deep belly laughs as he watched the newest airplane video over and over. “How could I not want another one with you?”

Mickey broke into a face splitting grin, one to rival Ian’s. “Yeah, yeah me too Ian.”

Ian leaned over to plant a short peck on his husband’s lips. 

“So how to you want to do this?” Mickey continued. Even though deciding on having another baby seemed like the hard part, he was now realizing making that a reality was going to be the true hard part, seeing as they were two men. 

“I’m pretty open to anything, ya know? I’ve thought about adoption, but part of me wants to do surrogacy so we can really be there for the whole process from the very start.”

“I kinda really agree.” Mickey replied, glad that he and Ian were on the same page as wanting one of them to be the biological father. Which one of them it was going to be was the next question. 

“I want you to be the dad,” the boys sputtered out at the exact same time. 

“What? No, Mick…c’mon. I don’t think it would be s-safe for me to be the dad.” Ian looked down at his hands as he implored Mickey to understand what he was referring to without actually saying he was scared the baby would get his disease. “And besides, you clearly make beautiful babies,” Ian added glancing over to Yev, trying to lighten the now somber mood. 

“Ian…look at me. You’ve got to know I don’t care about that at all. It’s not a guarantee you’ll pass anything on, and even if it happened, we’ll be there to support them and guide them through it. We’re not like our parents. Speaking of, I have just as many shitty genes on my side. It’s a fuckin’ miracle Yev came out as perfect as he did. I would really love it if we used your sperm. Having another little ginger running around here would be kind of cute. 

“Did big bad Southside thug Mickey Milkovich just use the word cute?”

“Ay, shut the fuck up or I won’t have any babies with you.”

“You really want me to be the biological dad?” Ian got back to the serious topic, looking Mickey in the eyes. 

“I really do. One from each of. Think it would kind of complete us, ya know?

“Yeah, yeah it’d be good,” Ian agreed taking Mickey’s face in his hands. This time their kiss was lingering. If they didn’t have a two-year-old in the room, it might have led somewhere. 

“So…let’s make a fuckin’ appointment at a surrogacy place or whatever the fuck they’re called,” Mickey tried to figure out what they were called, scrunching up his face in the way Ian always found adorable. 

“Let’s.”

 

A week later they found themselves Briston’s Family Planning, meeting with Dr. Briston herself. She was a short lady with cropped blonde hair and big smile. Yev was at day care so it was just the two dads. “Let’s talk about exactly what you boys are looking for. I see from paperwork you filled out online you are looking at options to add another child to your family?”

“Yeah, we already have our son Yevgeny from his previous relationship, but it’s just me and Mick raising him, and now we want to have another but this time I would be the bio dad.”

“This is him at the zoo last month,” Mickey added, pulling up his phone and showing Dr. Briston the lock screen picture of their toddler, “he’s two.” Ian was beaming down at his husband, always getting filled with butterflies when Mickey showed off their son proudly. Ian constantly marvels at how much Mickey has changed in a few short years. For the better of course. 

“He is adorable! And seems like a great age to bring in another baby,” Dr. Briston smiled back pulling out some more paperwork. 

“Yeah, we really want this,” Ian ran a hand through his hair. “We were thinking we could do surrogacy where we get an egg donor and mix my sperm and then put it in a surrogate. At least that’s what I got from the internet,” Ian finished shyly. He hadn’t told Mickey he had been looking up options on the internet for a while. 

“I’m glad you are looking into it! That shows me you are as committed to this as you would be for a typical pregnancy,” The blonde lady reassured Ian. “What you are actually talking about is a gestational carrier. Meaning we would put a fertilized embryo into the uterus of a woman who is not the biological mother. That often quickens the process as we have several eggs in our bank ready to be fertilized as opposed to using a surrogate and having to extract eggs and then wait for the right part of their cycle to put them back in,” the doctor carefully explained the options to the two men in front of her. 

Mickey looked at Ian and they both nodded confirming that was what they wanted. “Yea I mean we wanna get on this as soon as we can, ya know? So Yev can have a little sibling close in age to play with,” the dark-haired man told the doctor.

“Okay, so if you are ready and don’t want to explore other options like adoption we can start looking at potential egg donor profiles today and even gestational carrier profiles if we have time,” Dr. Briston happily explained to the boys. She could see how much they wanted this, and nothing made her happier than helping families bring a wanted child into their life. She turned the desktop computer towards the boys and explained how they could scroll through the files and note the numbers of the profiles they liked on the pad in front of them. “Take your time and I’ll be back in about 20 minutes after checking up on another patient.”

“Fuck there’s a lot of chicks here,” Mickey grumbled. “How we supposed to pick one?”

“Well…. It lists information about their lives that can help us decide, and we check these boxes here and it filters out the ones that don’t fit what we want,” Ian slowly responded while looking over the search field box. “I’m going to check college degree, Caucasian… so it looks like our family, and adjust the height to like 5’2-5’7, sound good?”

“Yeah’” Mickey looked on as Ian was building their perfect donor. “Hey! Check that box that says red hair.”

“What? Why Mick? I already have red hair, we can at least let the kid have a fighting chance at not being made fun of for being extra ginger,” Ian argued back lightly. 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ Ian, it’s not gonna be extra ginger, the fuck does that even mean? Using a red head just means it’s definitely gonna be ginger. And that’s what I want.”

“You and your red heads, I swear.”

“I like what I like man.”

“Fine,” Ian gave in. “But you will be in charge of dealing with the tears every time he or she comes home crying because some little shit head made fun of their hair and freckles.” 

“Sounds good to me, Firecrotch,” Mickey smirked. He would say anything to get Ian to agree to a red head. 

Once they selected all the boxes they wanted, the page refreshed a came up with just five profiles this time. Much more manageable for the boys who were already overwhelmed with the process. 

They scrolled through the first four and they all seemed kind of the same. When they got to the final profile, they both knew that was the one. Something about the woman’s eyes looked so genuine, and not to mention she had a degree in early childhood education so she had to be a sweet person. They only wanted the best traits for their new baby. 

“Wow, she’s stunning and looks like a really nice person,” Ian noted not taking his eyes of her profile.

“Fuck, never thought I say this shit about chick but she’s fuckin’ gorgeous.”

“Hey! Look down here,” Ian motioned to the bottom of the screen where you could click on ‘Successful Pregnancies.’ A file opened with a picture of a baby with red hair and bright blue eyes. “How cute is that baby, Mick!?”

“Pretty damn, cute”

“Her DNA would definitely make a perfect baby don’t you think, Mick?” Mickey nodded his head leaning closer to get a good look at the baby who really was adorable. 

“So is this the one?” Mickey asked Ian. 

“Yeah. Yeah it is,” Ian confirmed by smiling down at his husband. Ian couldn’t help his excitement and pressed his lips to his husbands in a lingering kiss. 

They figured that was the hard part, and they were right as choosing the carrier was simpler as they just wanted someone who had done it before, and lived nearby to them so they could help out and be oncall for anything she needed. They ended up picking a 33 year old woman named Leanna who had been a gestational carrier two years earlier on top of having her own 7 year old daughter at home. Her profile was honest, stating she did this as way to supplement income since her job didn’t pay her as much as she would like to have to be able to raise her daughter. 

Just as they were finalizing their decisions, Dr. Briston came back in the room so see how progress was going. The boys showed her their decisions and the doctor was impressed. “Wow, usually people need a few weeks to decide! You guys are ready to go huh?”

“Yes!” Both boys said simulatnesly. They truly wanted to add this baby to their family. 

“Okay, so the next step is for Ian here to fill out these forms authorizing his sperm to be fertilized with donor egg #3429,” She told them, handing Ian the paperwork. After getting the filled out paperwork she asked Ian if wanted to speed up the process even more by giving his sample today or making another appointment.

“Today, I think?” Ian asked, looking at Mickey for confirmation which he received in the form of a head nod and thigh squeeze. “Yeah, today, I’m ready. How does it work exactly?” 

“Well you’ll go into one of our donation rooms which is filled with magazines of all types,” She winked, trying to ease his nerves. “I will give you a cup with your information on the lable that you need to ejaculate into, and bring out to our nurse immediately after. Do you have any other questions?”

“Yeah, can Mickey come in the room too? Ya know…to like…help me…”

The doctor chuckled at that. Patients never wanted to be straight forward with their sexual questions even though that was practically her first language. “Unfortunately, only you can be in the room as we have to make sure no other sperm contaminates yours.”

Mickey could see how his husband was a bit worried about this process and leaned over cupping his hand on Ian’s jaw. “You got this babe, just think about my perfect ass the whole time. You got plenty of material to remember,” he smirked at his man. 

30 minutes later, Ian walked out of donation room B and handed his sample to the nurse and was lead back to the doctor’s office where Mickey and the doctor were waiting. 

“There’s my champ,” Mickey spit out as soon as Ian entered the room, causing the ginger’s face to turn as red as his hair. He took a seat next to Mickey as she explained what would happen next. 

“While you were gone, Ian, the office staff contacted Leanna and she is coming in this Thursday to get a check up and see where in her cycle she is at. In the meantime your specimen is being sent to our lab and will be mixed with the egg and hopefully turn into a fertilized embryo. Our staff will update you after she comes in and if the egg is successfully fertilized. After that, Leanna will come back in for the embryo implantation—”

“Are we allowed to go to that appointment?” Ian interrupted. 

“Well, that is up to Leanna, however she completely welcome the parents during her last gestational carrier job.” Dr. Bristol responded with a smile on her face. 

“Cool” Ian replied back. 

“2 weeks after the implantation, we will have another appointment to see if it took and after that everything will proceed as it normally would with any other pregnancy, with checkups every 6 weeks or so until it gets closer to the due date. “

“Wow. So that’s it for now?” Mickey tentatively asked, feeling this was all too easy. 

“That is it for now boys! Of course if the egg doesn’t fertilize or the embryo doesn’t attach to the uterus that means the pregnancy won’t be viable this time around, but of course you can come back in for another round if you wish.”

“Uh…” Mickey stuttered looking down.

Ian took over, “this is kinda our only shot. Ya know with the expenses, this is likely the only round we can do, at least for a few more years.” Ian squeezed Mickey’s hand knowing his husband didn’t like talking about their limited finances with non family members. 

“I completely understand that. Well let’s keep our fingers crossed this one takes then. You, the egg donor and gestational carrier are all healthy so the odds look good for you guys,” she smiled reassuringly to the boys. I’ll walk you to the front and our office staff can get you a great payment plan that fits whatever you can do right now. 

“Thank you Dr. Briston,” Ian extended his hand to the doctor, as Mickey followed suit. 

The drive home was quiet, only breaking at the end.  
“Let’s not tell Yev or anyone in the family yet until everything’s ago alright?” Mickey asked his husband.

“Of course! But I just have a good feeling about this Mick, I really do.”

“Me too,” Mickey smiled back. 

 

The next few weeks were stressful for the two dads as they awaited updates from the hospital. Eventually they were told that the egg was successfully fertilized, and Leanna’s appointment went perfect and her implantation date was set for the next Wednesday. They were able to speak with Leanna on the phone which went well. Ian of course charmed her with his outgoing personality like he does with everyone and she quickly invited them to all future appointments including the implantation.

The boys both took off from work as they couldn’t wait to meet their carrier and watch the whole process. From standing at Leanna’s head of course. The boys had managed to go most of their lives without seeing that area of a woman, they didn’t need to start now. 

Wednesday finally arrived and the boys made their way down to the see their OBGYN, Dr. Briston who would be doing the implant. 

They were brought into her office where they were introduced to Leanna in person for the first time. She was just as lovely in person as she was on the phone. After the doctor explained to them how the procedure worked, she brought them all into a room with a table and stirrups for Leanna to lay on. 

The procedure went according to plan, barring the 2 minutes where Mickey felt like he was going to pass out from being so overwhelmed. However, the nurses brought him some juice and with a quick kiss on the lips from Ian that always seems to put air back into his lungs instead of taking it away, he was feeling ready to go and they watched as the embryo, their potential child, was implanted into Leanna. 

It was over as quickly as it began, and they were all walking to the front of the office. They would all be coming back in to do an ultrasound and pee test in two weeks to see if the pregnancy stuck. 

Two weeks was there before they knew it. 

“Do you think it will be a boy or a girl?”

“Ian, we don’t even know if it took, I don’t want to think about that yet. And even if it did, we won’t find out the sex today.”

“I know, I know. I’m just so excited to see!” Ian was practically skipping as he grabbed Mickey’s hand to pull him from the parking lot to the Family Planning Center. 

Mickey pulled open the door to the center and they saw Leanna sitting in the waiting room reading a pregnancy magazine. “Hey guys, I already checked in to they should be calling us soon.”

“Great. How are you feeling?” Mickey asked taking the seat to Leanna’s right, Ian taking the one next to him. They had spoken on the phone a few days earlier, but it wasn’t the same as talking in person. 

“Everything feels great! Honestly, the last few days I’m starting to feel the same way physically as I did with my first two pregnancies. I don’t want to get all our hopes up, but I just have a feeling I’m pregnant,” she smiled up at the two boys. 

Before either man could respond they were called back into a room with an ultrasound. “Alright, Leanna, I’m going to have you go pee in a cup and then come back in this room, and the Dr. Briston will be in to follow up with what the test says” the nurse explained to the three of them as she handed Leanna a cup. 

A few minutes later and Leanna was back in the room after depositing her pee cup with the nurse. Five minutes later and Dr. Bristol was opening the door and taking a seat on her swivel chair. Leanna was on the table and the boys were in the extra chairs against the wall. 

“Well, let’s get right to it huh?” The doctor asked.

“Yeah! What did the test say doc?” Ian asked, bursting with nerves. 

“The test came back positi—”

“OH MY GOD I KNEW I KNEW IT MICK! I KNEW SHE WAS GONNA BE PREGNANT!” Ian practically yelled, standing up and startling the unexpecting doctor. She was used to happy reactions from parents, but they usually let her finish her sentence first. Ian grabbed Mick’s hand and kissed him on the cheek causing the dark-haired man to blush under the eyes of the ladies in the room. 

“Well, someone is excited,” Dr. Briston joked. “As I was saying, the test did come back positive but I’m going to do an ultrasound just to be sure of course.”

“Yes. Sounds great, thank you doc,” Mickey added, giving his husband a calming looking hoping to calm him down. 

The doctor turned on the ultrasound machine and squirted lubricant on Leanna’s belly and got right to work. “Ah ha. There it is dads! Congratulations!” Dr. Bristol pointed out the tiny circle on the screen that was going to turn into their baby. 

“Fuck.”

“Mick!”

“Sorry! It’s just…wow….ya know…never got to see this shit with Yev,” Mickey replied looking down. “Never wanted to,” he added for only Ian’s ears. 

Ian grabbed his husbands hand again and gave it a reassuring squeeze as they both got up to look closely at the screen. 

“Can’t believe that’s our kid,” Ian looked on in awe.

“Oh you’ll be believing it soon,” Leanna chimed in. “Knowing my body, give me like 2 more weeks and I’ll be showing already. There’s never any hiding it with me,” she chuckled. 

“Okay, everyone, everything here looks like a healthy pregnancy. I’d like to see Leanna back in 6 weeks. And of course, come in earlier if you feel like you need to or have questions,” she directed towards the three of them as she wiped off the lubricant from Leanna’s tummy.

 

Six weeks somehow passed by in a breeze and their first checkup went well. The baby looked so much bigger, and Dr. Briston said everything looked normal. They were even able to hear the baby’s heartbeat. Ian wouldn’t mention it, but he knows he saw Mickey’s eyes water while listening to it. 

They decided it was close enough to the second trimester safe zone to tell Yevgeny and then the rest of the family. They cooked Yev’s favorite Paw Patrol shaped macaroni and laid it all out for him during dinner. 

“So Yev,” Ian started. The little boy looked up at his daddy. “You know how your friends Amy and Gemma are sisters?”

Yev scrunched up his face in concentration before answering as he was still learning how to understand full sentences, “Yup.”

“Well, what would you think if you had a sister or even a brother?” Ian continued.

Another face scrunch, “I don’t know.’

Mickey looked over at his husband with a smirk on his face. They both realized Yevgeny was a little too young for this approach, so they were just going to have to tell him what was happening without his opinion. 

“Hey little man, you’re going to have new baby brother or sister soon,” Yev looked up at his Papa who had taken over the conversation. Mickey pulled up a picture of Leanna he had taken at the appointment this morning. “This is Leanna, Yev, she has a baby in her tummy that is going come live in our house.”

“Baby?” Yev asked, seeming to be slowly catching on. 

“Yup,” Ian continued, “You’re going to have a baby sister or brother, just like Gemma and Amy. It going to be a little baby and then it will grow. You are going to be best friends and you will love the baby I promise.”

“Okay Daddy,” Yev responded. That was as good as they were going to get from the almost 3-year-old. “TV?”

“Yeah buddy you can go watch TV,” Mickey answered him. 

Yev scurried off to the couch to watch TV, leaving his dads alone. They both turned to each other and broke out in hysterics. “You know I honestly had myself worked up about telling Yev all this time, and all he says is ‘Okay’” Ian got out through his giggles. 

“I guess we shouldn’t have expected much with a toddler. We’ll just show him more pictures and get some of those fuckin’ big brother books or some shit.” Mickey added on, suddenly reaching over and grabbing Ian’s face for a kiss.

“What was that for?”

“Just happy. That’s all.”

“Me too, Mick. Time to tell the family now though.”

 

The boys were shocked at how easy it was to tell the Gallagher’s plus Mandy. No one gave them shit about being too young or not stable enough. The past two years of watching Ian and Mickey get married, have stable jobs, and raise Yevgeny must have really shown their family how solid they are. 

Of course, Lip cracked his usual jokes about Ian having to have sex with Leanna, causing the whole family to giggle. The boys just ignored it, which was pretty easy to do when they were on cloud nine from the news being so well received. Debbie and Mandy were even planning a baby shower for the boys and Leanna. 

Just a few weeks later they were back at Dr. Briston’s office for their second trimester checkup. Only this time, Dr. Briston was out at the hospital down the street, delivering a baby, so they had to be looked at by another doctor named Dr. Allen. Leanna had seen her a few times during her other pregnancies so as long as she was comfortable, the boys were okay with it. 

“Alright let’s take a look, shall we?” Dr. Allen rolled the scanner over Leanna’s now 20-week belly. 

The boys did notice that something looked a bit different than last time on the screen, but they just figured that the fetus looked different at different stages. 

“Everything is looking great; would you like to know the sex? They are in a great position to view it today,” the doctor continued. 

“YES!” Ian yelled out, barely listening to a word the doctor said after the word ‘sex.’

“WAIT!” Mickey interjected. “The fuck do you mean THEY?!”

Ian and Leanna were confused for a second before realizing the doctor had indeed said ‘they.’ Before either of them could get a word out the doctor spoke up. “You are having twins, were you not aware?”

“Do these look like the faces of people who knew they were having a goddamn litter?” Mickey spat out pointed at the three shocked faces, including his own, the most shocked of all. “Did you know this?” He walked up to Leanna’s side asking her.

“No of course not! I’ve only been to the same appointments as you have.” 

“Okay let’s all calm down,” Ian spoke up, being the voice of reason for once when it came to the pregnancy. “How did this happen doc? And why didn’t Dr. Briston tell us?”

“Well, it’s likely that it was still a single pregnancy at your last appointment, and the fetus split into two sometime after. A split is definitely possible any time in the first trimester, even the later weeks. From this ultrasound it appears you are having monozygotic twins, also known as identical twins,” the doctor relayed the info to the shell-shocked boys. 

“Holy shit,” Mickey finally got out after about 15 seconds of no one saying anything. 

“Now of course there are options, if you aren’t and cannot become prepared for more than one baby. That would of course be ultimately up to Leanna though.”

“Like terminate?” Ian asked, not quite grasping what the doctor was saying. 

“Yes, it is possible to reduce the pregnancy since we are just at the 20-week mark, but it would have to be done this week.”

“What? No. We want them both, of course! Right Mick?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Two is fine. Two is good.” Mickey replied finally getting a grip on the whole twins bombshell. 

“And you’re okay with carrying both, Leanna?” Ian asked.

“Of course, this is your family, I’m just the oven. Whatever you guys want.” She smiled at them. They had really gotten lucky with choosing such a great gestational carrier. 

“Okay great,” the doctor cut in. “I know today has been a lot of information already, but would you boys like to know the sex of the babies?”

“Why the hell not, nothing could surprise us anymore unless you told us they were half dragon,” Mickey replied. 

“Well as cool as that would be, I’m guessing it’s going to either be male or female in our case,” the doctor chuckled back. He picked the scanner back up rubbing it over Leanna’s tummy again to get the perfect angle. “Well, congrats dads, you will soon be taking home two new baby girls.”

“Oh my god,” Ian gasped. “Girls Mick, girls! I really thought it would be boys, I don’t know why!”

“Two girls, shit. That’s gonna be expensive in 13 years…” Mickey muttered that last part, but the whole room heard it and started cracking up. Ian pulled his adorable husband into a hug and planted one on his temple. They both went over to give Leanna a hug.

“Thank you for doing this for us Le,” Ian whispered as he kissed her on the head as well. 

“My pleasure, I can’t’ wait for you two to meet them! The second half always goes so quick, they’ll be here before you know it,” she told them as she got the jelly wiped off her and pulled her shirt back down and sat up, getting ready to leave with the two boys who were still in a slight state of shock. 

 

Leanna was right, the second half of the trimester had flown by and before they knew it they were two weeks from her due date. Yevgeny was getting more on board with the idea of having new babies join the house. He had even said, “like Gemma and Amy?” when the boys explained how they were having twins. He seemed to be excited to be a big brother. The last few months, Yev had grown so much in size and he was really starting to speak more complexly as well as understand more of what Ian and Mickey were saying. 

Debbie was over with Ian and Mickey helping them put the finishing touches on the nursery as Yev napped in his room. The boys were constantly checking their phones in case Leanna called or texted, as they knew with twins, it was likely the babies were going to come early. 

That night, Yev was up and they were all eating dinner at the kitchen table. Debbie had even stayed feeling like the boys owed her a home cooked meal after her hard work on the nursery. They happily obliged and were now all eating chicken and vegetables together as they heard Ian’s phone go off where it was charging on the kitchen counter. 

Ian and Mickey both practically flew out of their seats to get to the phone. 

“It’s Leanna, Mick!” Ian breathed out catching his breath. His chair was closer to the counter, so he had reached the phone first. “What if this is it?”

“What if you answer before it goes to voicemail?” Mickey snapped back, lightheartedly. Ian shook his head agreeing and picked up. 

“Hi Leanna, is everything okay? …. You are? …. Really? ….Oh my god…” Mickey was getting frustrated only hearing Ian’s end of the conversation, he was making wide eyes at Ian trying to get him to tell him what was happening. However, Ian just shushed him with a wave of the hand as he kept responding to Leanna. “Yeah, yeah. We’re on our way.”

“Fuckin’ finally, what did she say??”

“She started having contractions about an hour ago and now they are eight minutes apart so her sister is driving her to the hospital. It’s time Mick!”

“Oh shit. Shit. Okay. Um. We gotta go then. Debs can you watch Yev overnight?” Mickey was practically trembling with nerves as he tried to recall their prepared plan of action for when the time would come. He was having trouble remembering it now that it was all actually happening.”

“Of course, you guys go. Call us with updates!”

The boys quickly said goodbye to Yevgeny, explaining that his sisters were on the way. The now three-year-old was very excited but bummed he couldn’t come with. 

 

They made it to the hospital and were directed towards Leanna’s private delivery room. Dr. Briston was in there when they opened the door. They both rushed to one side of Leanna asking her if she was okay and murmuring words of encouragement for how good she was doing and how great she looked. 

“Okay, you are about 4 centimeters dilated. This is the perfect time to give you an epidural if you would like one,” the doctor explained. 

“YES PLEASE. NOW!” Leanna screamed out as her most painful contraction yet hit. 

“Get the woman the damn epidural!” Mickey directed at the nurse in the room. Never one to like seeing his family in pain, and Leanna had quickly become family over the last almost nine months. 

Leanna quickly got her epidural and before they knew it was time to push. The boys both started out at her head as planned but midway through pushing out the first baby Ian decided this was a once in a lifetime moment he didn’t want to miss. “Holy shit, Mick. You gotta see this. I can see her head, she’s got a lot of hair. Red hair.” Ian was in awe. 

As much as he wanted to look he was worried he would pass out and he didn’t want to miss the births or shift the focus to him. “I’m g-good up here,” he squeaked out in a higher than normal pitched voice. 

“One more big push,” Dr. Briston encouraged Leanna. 

Not more than ten seconds later the room was silenced by a faint cry. The first baby was here and placed on Leanna’s chest. The boys stared on in amazement at how perfect she was. She was covered in gunk, but you could see her bright red hair atop her head. As planned, Ian cut the first umbilical cord and the baby was handed off to a doctor to be checked while Leanna pushed out the second one. 

After seeing his first baby girl, something had come over Mickey and he slowly made his way towards the bottom of the bed to watch his second daughter being born. “Oh my god” he got out. He never thought a vagina would look so beautiful but seeing another ginger head coming out made it okay. He would have never forgiven himself for missing seeing this at least once out of all his children’s births. 

Before they knew it, the second baby was out and crying louder than her sister. Mickey, oh so carefully cut the umbilical cord, very worried he would hurt the baby even though the doctor and nurses assured him repeatedly the baby couldn’t feel it. 

Soon after, another bed was brought into the room and Ian and Mickey were sitting up side by side holding their baby girls each wrapped in a blanket with a little beanie stuck on their head. 

“They’re so perfect,” Ian mused.

“And so tiny,” Mickey finished. 

“We did good huh?” Ian asked tearing his eyes away from the baby in his arms to stare adoringly into his husband’s eyes. 

“Yeah. Yeah we did good. You did good Gallagher. I mean look at this goddamn red hair,” he teased slowly taking off the hat of the baby in his arms and stroking his fingers through the hair that was almost two inches long on the top. Dr. Briston said she hadn’t seen a newborn let alone two with that much hair in years. 

“Told ya they’d be extra ginger,” Ian smirked, causing his husband to laugh and smile back.

“Shut the fuck up, Firecrotch,” he bit back with zero heat, knocking the side of his head against Ian’s and leaving it there to rest. “Can’t wait ‘til Yev sees them,” he added.

“He’s gonna love ‘em so much.” Ian agreed. 

They had called Debbie about an hour after the babies were born and were declared perfectly healthy by the doctor. It was only seven in the morning, so she said she would bring Yev down to meet the twins at 10 after he had breakfast. 

As they were basking in the glow of their new babies, Debbie knocked on the slightly ajar door quietly while holding Yev on her hip. 

The boys looked up and smiled and waved them in. They told Yev he had to be super gentle and then Debbie placed him on the bed. 

“Yevvy, these are your sisters, do you want to say hi?” Ian asked him sweetly.

“Babies?” Yev asked, staring at them in awe.

“Yup little man, they are tiny now, but they are going to grow quick and before you know you’ll be able to play with them,” Mickey explained to the little boy slowly crawling up the bed to get a closer look at the twins. 

He looked over at the baby in Ian’s arms first. 

“Yev,” Ian started, “this is your baby sister Willow, and that” Ian pointed to the baby in Mickey’s arms, “is your sister “Eva,” he finished. 

Yev looked on in wonder slowly touching his fingers first to Willow’s tummy, and then Eva’s. He looked up in confusion, “They look the same Daddy.”

The dads laughed at that. “Yeah, it’s because they are twins, and they were born at the same time. But as they get bigger we’re going to learn to tell them apart,” Mickey tried to explain to their toddler. 

“Oh,” is all Yevgeny said in response, seemingly content with Mickey’s answer. 

The boys made room for Yevgeny between them and had the nurse take a picture on Ian’s phone. Their first official picture as a family of five. 

The nurse handed back the phone and the three boys in the room stared down at the picture. 

“Famwee?” Yev asked pointing his finger at the phone.

“Yeah bud, this is our family,” Mickey leaned down to kiss his too adorable for words son. 

Ian looked over at Mickey and Mickey instinctively leaned over for a long kiss, causing Yev to giggle in between them. They pulled away from each other and looked down at their three perfect children. Both thinking how there was nothing more perfect than what they were looking at. Their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I imagine Yev looking like in this fic: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/376191375108163698/
> 
> This is what I imagine the twins looking like in this fic: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0d/17/c6/0d17c6c17b671db5b6fd252ff2846853.jpg
> 
> Welp! That's officially the end of my first ever fanfic. Again, please leave comments and kudos!! I'd love to hear feedback.


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